Houston joins Sacramento, Los Angeles as 5G launch markets, Verizon says
Although its prepping to deploy commercial 5G services in three named markets, Verizon capital expenditures will likely come in toward the low end of guidance as the carrier efficiently invests in both LTE and 5G infrastructure, executives said on a Q2 earnings call today.
On the 5G side, Verizon plans to launch a residential broadband service using millimeter wave spectrum in three to five markets by the end of this year. So far the carrier has identified Sacramento and Los Angeles, Calif., and Houston, Texas, as launch markets for the service, which will be based on the carriers Verizon Technical Forum proprietary standard and then upgraded to 3GPP’s non-standalone 5G New Radio (NR) specification.
Verizon’s soon-to-be CEO Hans Vestberg, previously the carriers chief technology officer and before that CEO of network infrastructure vendor Ericsson, said, “I really like the assets we have and the ones we’re building. That will really give us the opportunity to be a much bigger broadband provider. 5G gives that opportunity, but we need to remember when we talk about 5G, 5G is an access technology. There’s so much more you need to do to have it,” including investment in fiber, unified transport, multi-service routers and data center assets. “It’s going to take time to have it across the country.”
Contributing to a Houston-area outreach pilot program called “Complete Communities,” Verizon said it would invest in deploying 5G in “five traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods.” City Mayor Sylvester Turner said the next-generation cellular network “will be a game-changer helping us usher in a new wave of progress and innovation.”
In addition to sticking to the lower end of capital spend estimated between $17 billion to $17.8 billion, Verizon reported $1 earnings per share in, the addition of 531,000 retail postpaid net subscriber additions and a postpaid churn rate of less than 1%.
Vestberg is taking over for Lowell McAdam on Aug. 1. McAdam said, “Verizon is extremely well-positioned for the future.Our financial and operating results for the first half of 2018 were strong, as evidenced by service revenue, earnings and operating cash flow growth delivered in a highly competitive marketplace.”
